Long before the Rio Ferdinand furore, Roy Hodgson’s mind was focused squarely on another England absentee – Wayne Rooney.

More precisely – what England would do without him for the opening two games of Euro 2012 against France and Sweden.

The tragic death of Jermain Defoe’s father from throat cancer on Wednesday night may further diminish Hodgson’s attacking options against France after the striker returned home to be with his family.

And continued concerns over John Terry’s hamstring just adds to the turbulent preparations the new England manager has had to endure leading up to his first major tournament in charge.

But for all the injuries suffered by the Three Lions squad, one issue has remained from the moment Hodgson was handed the reins in May – Rooney.

He was unequivocal over his intention to take the United striker to Poland and the Ukraine, even if he had inherited a situation where England could be eliminated from the competition by the time their star player was available.

The task for Hodgson is to devise a way to ensure they are very much still in the competition when Rooney kicks a ball in anger for the first time under his new manager on June 19.

Judging by the warm-ups against Norway and Belgium, Defoe’s best chance to be involved appears to be from the bench – even if he is by far the most experienced of the remaining strikers, with 13 more goals than United’s Danny Welbeck and Liverpool’s Andy Carroll combined.

So while the Tottenham striker’s potential absence on Monday further depletes England resources, it will do little to alter Hodgson’s thinking in terms of his starting line-up.

His strike-force is expected to come down to a straight battle between Welbeck and Carroll to partner Ashley Young.

Young has been the stand-out performer of Hodgson’s two games in charge – scoring one and making another in two 1-0 wins.

His ability to play off the striker will play a crucial role in linking defence and attack while Rooney watches from the sidelines.

Hodgson said: “The position we wanted Ashley to get into, as we’ve seen Wayne do so often for Manchester United, is behind that midfield and in front of the back players.

“Then if you’ve got a centre forward who can really occupy the back players it is very difficult for that man to be picked up.”

The question is who that man will be.

Carroll impressed Hodgson against Norway with his strength at leading the line, as well as his defensive duties – particularly from set plays.

Welbeck, on the other hand, scored a superb winner against Belgium and offers greater mobility up front, as well as an understanding with Young as team-mates at Old Trafford.

But that so much should rest on players who have yet to play 10 times between them for their country, with only a goal each on international duty speaks volumes of the lack of striking depth behind Rooney.

“It’s concerned me as an English coach for a long time,” said Hodgson.

“If you take the top teams from the Premier League, most of the forwards in those teams are foreign players. So you don’t have the choice of Englishmen.

“In fact, when you go through all the teams in the Premier League you can sometimes count the number of English players playing in the first XI – well you can get four or five teams before you get to one hand.

“Of course we have a shortage. The good news for England, if we are looking longer term, is that there’s quite a few players coming through – a lot of interesting younger players.

“But at the moment, if you are taking this tournament into account, we are going to be very dependent upon Welbeck, who’s had a good season and is a young player, Carroll, the same, and Defoe, who is a lot more experienced, until Rooney gets the opportunity to play.”

Injuries and suspension means Hodgson’s staring line-up against France will differ from his ideal XI.

He was hoping to pair Terry and Gary Cahill to build on the pair’s Champions League success with Chelsea. Now he could be faced with pairing Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka in the centre of defence.

Gareth Barry was not guaranteed to start alongside Steven Gerrard in midfield, but without the City midfielder and Frank Lampard, Hodgson has lost two of his most experienced players in that area.

Rooney’s absence has largely removed the option to play the 4-3-3 system that Fabio Capello favoured after the last World Cup.

Hodgson has so far stuck to a rigid 4-4-2, but insists that has been more down to personnel than inflexibility on his part.

“I think it is important for me to work out what I think is the best team and which are the players who are going to do the most damage to the opposition and make certain they play in the positions that suit them,” he said.

“It’s so important in international football to make sure your good players are playing in positions where they feel they can do the most damage and they are not part of a system where they are forced to do a job that doesn’t suit them.”

Right now too many of England’s good players are unavailable to them. As such, Hodgson’s primary concern will be keep their Euro bid afloat until the most important of them all returns on June 19.